President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to work together to address human rights abuses in North Korea during a phone conversation on Friday, according to the White House.

"The two leaders discussed the importance of improving the human rights situation in North Korea and underscored their commitment to work together on this issue," the White House said in a statement.

Earlier, Trump met with a group of North Korean defectors at the White House and listened to the tragic lives they had in the North and their new lives outside the reclusive state. Among them was Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector who was acknowledged by Trump during his State of the Union address on Tuesday (local time).

Speaking with Moon, Trump wished him and the South Korean people a successful Winter Olympics, which kick off in PyeongChang on Feb. 9, and "reiterated his commitment to addressing the trade imbalance between the two countries," the White House said.

Negotiations between Seoul and Washington are under way to amend the bilateral free trade pack that took effect in 2012.

Moon expressed hope that the inter-Korean reconciliatory mood from the Olympics will help bring peace to the Korean Peninsula. Moon also thanked Trump for sending a U.S. delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence to the Olympics, senior presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan said.

"Many countries were afraid of joining the PyeongChang Olympics even three or four weeks ago and considered canceling their participation, but now they are not afraid of participation at all," Yoon quoted Trump as saying in the 30-minute telephone conversation. Trump also said he will be "100 percent with South Korea" over the Olympics.